It's the same dream as before: Alex Summers resumes his guise of Havok and returns to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, even though he doesn't want to he has important information to share with the X-Men. He finds the facility deserted, with no sign of life and no sign of struggle except for the fact that Cerebro has been seriously damaged. However when he goes to leave he is confronted by the X-Men who are now led by their age old nemesis Magneto. Suddenly he is attacked by Rogue who absorbs his power and he passes out as he is being surrounded by the various X-Men making him believe that they have been made evil by their old foe.

Waking up from his dream, Alex loses control of his powers and runs out of the home he shares with Lorna Dane. Once safely outside he lets loose a powerful plasma blast into the sky so powerful that it fuses the dirt under him to glass. Worried about her lover, Lorna brings him back inside and begins making him some tea. She asks him what's wrong and he says that even though when he went to Xavier's Mansion days earlier and everything seemed all right, he still can't shake the feeling that something is terribly wrong. He decides to go back to Xavier's school and find out the truth, and when Lorna tries to convince him to let her come along, he tells her to stay behind. He however cannot talk him out of letting her take him to the airport and uses her magnetic powers to carry their jeep there. As they leave they are unaware that their home is being staked out by the Marauders Sabertooth, Scalphunter and Arclight.

Some hours later, Alex arrives at Xavier's school and finds the place deserted, checking Magneto's scheduler he finds that he has an appointment with the Hellfire Club. Not understanding what Magneto would be doing meeting with some of the X-Men's deadliest enemies, Alex decides to go and investigate. While back in New Mexico, Lorna tries to focus on her studies but cannot take her mind off Alex, when suddenly she is attacked by the three Marauders. With Scalphunter and Arclight trashing the house, Sabretooth rushes in to go and collect and kill her.

In New York, Alex is allowed entrance into the Hellfire Club where he is surprised to see Magneto in a meeting with the White Queen. When Alex demands answers, he is shocked to learn that the X-Men have forged an alliance with the Hellfire Club in light of a war being waged between mutants. Alex finds it hard to believe and demands answers, however Magneto tells him to leave. When Alex is gone, Magneto once more curses his checkered past in preventing him from moving forward in his life. Alex meanwhile decides to try to find help elsewhere. He first tries to seek the help of the Avengers but finds their mansion in ruins[1]. Running to a pay phone he calls Muir Island. There Callisto answers the phone and tells him the X-Men are in the states and to contact them through Magneto. When Alex asks where his brother Scott is, she tells him to check the phone book and hangs up on him. With nowhere else to turn, Alex feels very much alone and wishes that Lorna had come with him after all.

Lorna has troubles of her own, having fled the ruins of her home she realizes that without shelter or proper clothing there is no way she can survive in the winter weather. Worse, Sabretooth manages to track her with his enhanced senses. However, Lorna is far from helpless, as she soon demonstrates to Sabretooth: Using her magnetic powers to manipulate the iron ore in the area to bind Sabretooth, she tells him that her and Alex picked this location due to it's high iron content so that she could better utilize her powers. Sabretooth manages to break free and as Lorna tries to fly away he manages to clip her with his claws, leaving her open to be blasted by Scalphunter sending her crashing to the ground.

Back in New York, Alex has changed into his Havok costume and has been staking out the Hellfire Club waiting for Magneto to leave. When the Master of Magnetism does, Havok follows him down into the subway tunnels and through an emergency exit that leads him into the Morlock Tunnels. Seeing that the place was recently razzed with powerful energies[2] leaving Havok to wonder what happened to the many Morlocks that used to live down in these sewers.

He instead finds the X-Men, who are hiding down in the sewers. He overhears as Storm tells her teammates that in order to deal with the threat of the Marauders they cannot worry over those that they have associated with over the years and strike back at the Marauders at full force. In order to facilitate this, Storm suggests that the X-Men fake their down deaths so that the Marauders will leave the X-Men's allies alone. Over hearing this Alex finds it hard to believe and he is distracted when Rogue sneaks up behind him that he lashes out without thinking. Realizing what he's done and in an utter panic, Havok flees the scene while the other X-Men chase after him.

In New Mexico, Scalphunter and Arclight try to find Lorna in the dust raised by their battle and are shocked when Sabretooth is tossed back at them. Lorna's magnetic powers then fell Arclight, trapping her in the ground and Scalphunter is beat into submission with the pieces of his own weapons. While in New York, the X-Men easily subdue Havok before he can harm anyone. Alex learns to his shock that when he first came to the X-Mansion, Psylocke had altered his memories, however due to the extensive psi-shielding taught to him by Professor Xavier he was not fully effected by them. With no means of doing so again without permanently harming Alex, the X-Men have to decide what to do with him. Unable to kill one of their own, Havok instead offers to join up with the X-Men instead, and when Magneto reminds him of the war going on between mutants, he still joins up, taking Magneto's hand in doing so.

While back in New Mexico, the three Marauders are surprised to find that Malice has possessed Lorna Dane, as per the orders of their leader Mr. Sinister. Malice explains that she had possessed Lorna just after Havok left for New York and wanted to test and see if she had what it took to go up against the Marauders. With the test a complete success, Malice uses Lorna's powers to create a new costume and forces her to join the Marauders as Polaris.

Notes

This issue is reprinted in many other comics and books, see references for more info.[3]